Online gaming has seen an upsurge in recent years and Canada is no exception. What does its future hold?
Canada has become the HubSpot for game-centric events and the recent Electronics Entertainment Expo showed just that. With faster internet connectivity and advanced processors, more and more players are jumping on the iGaming bandwagon to access their favourite games on-the-go.
Recently, the Canadian Gaming Association stated that the country has purchased gaming services with over $14 billion and it has generated over $31 billion in gross output. The recent upsurge in mobile gaming has boosted the iGaming industry considerably in Canada and the growing market is a reflection of that. Let us check out what the online gaming scenario might look like in Canada in the coming years.
Completely decentralizing the gaming regulatory body
The future is a decentralized regulatory standard for online gaming in Canada. If you want to host online scratch card games in the country, you have to follow regulations both from the federal level as well as state level. This complicates the process for operators who have always strived to gain some relaxation of existing gaming Candian rules. After the province of Québec started to give licenses to online gaming operators, more states are soon to follow in its footsteps to take advantage of the industries growth and enhanced investments.
Resolved legal challenges to existing laws
Loto Quebec, the government-run company controls the online gaming industry in Quebec. As the gaming laws often collide with federal and state provinces, a legal tussle ensued between CRTC, the Canadian telecommunications regulator and the Québec government. The dispute started when the regulator refused to comply with a law that states that all unlicensed internet gambling websites to be blocked. CRTC stated that the new law is unconstitutional which directly violated the federal Telecommunications Act showing a clear picture that the Canadian online gambling laws are not suitable for monitoring offshore gaming activities. In the future, it is expected that the government will pass new rules and regulations that will be able to address this type of disputes. The uncertainty of the online casino legality is still at large in Canada. Future gaming laws will address these problems so that rookie players do not find themselves on the wrong side of the law after a casual online gaming session.
Monetizing on offshore gaming
Canada loses a considerable amount of revenue every year from unauthorised offshore gaming. This revenue is lost on the form of services opted by Canadian citizens from gaming operators functioning from outside Canada. To resolve this, Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta are currently working on licenses and legislations to allow the foreign operators to operate legally on their soil. This is evident from a recent incident where the government scrapped a brick and mortar casino that was proposed in Ottawa from 2012 in favour of online gaming ventures.
More mobile gamers
According to ESAC or Entertainment Software Association of Canada’s 2018 report, Canada has over 23 million video gamers which make it one of the largest per capita populations of mobile game players globally. The CEO of ESAC, Jayson Hilcjhie said, “With this new research we’re gaining insight into the Canadian gamer; who they are, what they play and what other activities they like to engage in. We are now at a point where video games are part of the lives of our grandparents, parents, siblings and children, just like TV and the Internet. Canadians recognize our products as mainstream entertainment, and increasingly as tools to socialize with each other and learn new skills.” With over 29% of Canadians holding a smartphone and 60 percent of Canadians owning a gaming console, it is wise to assume that this trend will continue in the coming future.
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